The Bloom Of Youth

Feel the wind in your hair and desire in your veins.
Will I be a rich man? Of course, it’s in the cards!
Will I be famous?—more than that, you’ll live on in infamy!
Thumb your nose at the lot of them and laugh!

Discover the undiscovered.
Save the day.
Marry the princess.
There is nothing that won’t happen and nothing to stand in the way.
You’re not going to die, you’re not going to grow old.

The bloom of youth, the sweet time of carefree fearless days.
If you could go back and do it all over again, would you,
knowing what you know now, knowing what was to come?
No, I wouldn’t go back and do it again.
The knowing would ruin it.
I would slow down,
I would start preparing,
I wouldn’t live as a reckless, crazy, free spirit.

Ignorance, such a kind guardian of youth.
Not to dampen optimism, nor put out a ray of hope or crush the flower of a dream,
instead to slowly fade as revelation begins its sobering dawn,
surrounding us with memories, regrets, longings,
as we every so steadily come to the close.